St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-02
At San Francisco, Under Another Name,
he is Said to be Both Wealthy
and Honored,
Although His Alias is SO Far Known tt
Only Few Intimate Ac-
quaintanoes.
At New York He is Rememb ered
Simply as Forger and
Assassin,
dictment Found Thirty Three
Years Ago.
BILLY KsssaNE,s CASE.
Recorder Smyth Unwilling 10 Enter
Nolie PrOsequi-.-An Eventful


History.
in general sessions to-day heard argument
on the motion by Counselor j. b. Hart of
San Francisco to have nolle prOseQui EN-
tered in the indictment for forgery OH file
in the district attorneys office against Will
| lam Kissane, now wealthy and influential
citizen of San francisco The Indictment
was for the forgery of check for S12, 600
in 1854 against the Chemical bank of this
city. Counselor Jones appeared for the
bank and opposed the motion. He said
that kissane had not made any restitution
to the bank for the money thus obtained in
criminal manner, although it appeared
that he was well-to-do. Lawyer Jones
submitted an affidavit made by the cashier
of the bank. which set forth that the bank
had suffered loss of $26, $50 by Kissanes
torgeries. District Attorney MARITIME was
present and favored Diminishing the indct
! nlent, considering the length of time
elapsed and that Kissane had reformed and
was leading an honest life. Everything
considered he was not disposed to call the
case for trial at this late day. Recorder
Smytl was not SO willing to dismiss the
matter. He said that there was no evil
denee that Lawyer Hart was acting with
Kissane's consent, and intimated that he
would
REQUIRE ASSURANCES
on this point before taking action. A teie-
gram from the principal in the case would
not be sufficient. The parties then left
court. The Herald this morning prints the
following III regard to the wonderful life of
Billy kiSsane: KiSsane is we'll known
to most prominent CalifornianS. He has
for hao IN, tofo
an influential delegate to conventions and
man who was always consulted in the di-
vision of the spois. He never himself,
| however, ran for an Office that was higher
than that of county supervisor. He is a
Democrat like the men whom he has Sc
| lected to serve as his counsel. Senator
George Hearst is ali old friend of his, and
would, it is said speak favorably of him,
knowing only the history of that part of
his life which he has passed in the golden
state. 1t is not uninteresting to know that
! the attorney whom Kissane sent to this city
| to make the motion before Recorder Smyth.
| to dismiss the untred Indictment of 1854.
was an acquaintance of the former in his
youth. but lost sight of him for fifteen years
until the moment when he again met him
in California. Then said this attorney.
who is j. B. Hart. of San Francisco, 81
should not have known him but for certain
circumstances. Even to day l could not
take my oath that he is the same Bill Kis-
sane who in 1S49 was clerk in Lott Pugh's
great pork packing establishment i'll Gin
cinnati.''
without betraying your professional
trust. Mi. Hart. can you, give me mere
outline of Mr.. Kissane's history. aside from
what has been already published?"
Mr.. Hart belongs to the typical class of
pioneers. for it was III 1S49 that he sold out
his store in Hamilton, o., and went to Cal
ifofnia. Gradually and by gentle siiasion
and timely indulgence the following facts
were brought out:
~ suppose all must soon be known any
how he said. ''Of course l must stop at
the name. know nothing about these
CHARGES OF CRIME.
except what have discovered by searching
the legal reports. Kissane, as l have init
mated, was known to me in Cincinnati when
l kept a store in Hamilton. The second shows
that he was ACCUSED of being an accomplish
| in the burning of the steamer Martha Wash
ington ON the Mississippi river, together with
Cummings, Duane and others. He was tried
at Cincinnati, in the United States court, be-
fore Judge Mclean, on an Indictment for at
tempting TO swindle insurance companies
The investigation was very exhaustive and
he was acquitted Subsequently the judicial
the cont1agration occurred, obtained the Gus
tody of his body and tried him for murder,
one person having lost his life on the steamer.
He was again acquitted I have the history
of both cases. The first you can find in the
fifth volume of McLeans reports. In 1854
the forgeres were committed which caused
loss of $4,000 to the Chemical bank. In
November he was Indicted: You already
know enough of that history. There is no
disposition TO deny his guilt in connection
with those eases. He will only say that he
has outlived it l went to California in 1S49.
In 1857 1 met Kissane out there
under the name which he DOW
bears. l subsequently learned that
his venture in the state was tie keeping of
store in Sacramento. Probably he made
little money at that, for afterward he engaged
in mining at Gold Hill, New, with q partner,
and together they achieved great success.
In few years Kissane had amassed between
| S20O,000 and 100000. Kissane bears his s.
years well and is regarded 10y nearly all of his
neighbors as Il man of the very highest ehar-
acter. Mr.. Hart
DENOUNCED THE MOTIVE
! of both the Chemical bank officers and Gen.
| Dan as blackmail. Dan had written, not only
to the authorities here, but TO those at Helena
and Cincinnati as we'll to induce them 10
| make application for the eXtradition of Kis-
| sane. 81 believe myself said Mr.. Hart,
! "that Dan expects to divide with the Chem
zeal bank the proceeds of this CLAIM should
| KiSsaHe pay it, The attorney did not deny
| that his client would satisfy the demand of
the Chemical bank rather than have his
| present maine and connections exposed. '.If,
! however, he added "Dah and these people
| insist upon pressing the judicial phase of
| this matter, we shall begin criminal action
| against them at once for blackmail. 1t is for
| that object that Congressman Barclay Henly
| has been retained. Why, sir, the attorneys
| Of the Chemical bank in San Francisco wrote
| to Kissane threatening him with eXtradition
! TO New York unless he paid their client the
| sum to which it laid claim. But for that we
| never should have called attention to the
| slumbering Indictment
WHO IS HE?
ST.. Louis, April IA special from San
| Francisco says concerning the Kissane sen-
satiOn. His identify is said to be known
| to several newspaper proprietors, and it is
alleged that ali agreement has been made
not to publish the name of the suspected
man. Some of theprominent papers make
no mention Of the story at ALL though the
matter is general subject of conversation
and surprise. It's urged that many men
here have something in their past records
| that would not bear the light of day, and
SO Kissane has a right to be protected. The
assertion is made that the man is resident
| of Oakland, and well-knoWn lawyer EN-
i gagged in business here. Some of his asso-
eiates have known for years that he was
! living under all assumed name"